Rudolf Hoffhalter

Rudolf Hoffhalter originated from a family of printers and was the first printer of Dolnja Lendava. His father, Rafael Hoffhalter, who had Polish roots, played a significant role in the history of 16th century Hungarian printing. Rafael Hoffhalter learnt the trade of printing abroad. He used a German pseudonym when leaving for Vienna, Debrecen, Oradea and later Alba Iulia. He had to leave Vienna due to his Protestant beliefs, and Debrecen because instead of following the Reformed faith, he followed the Unitarian faith. He died suddenly in 1568.  
At the moment of his father´s death, Rudolf Hoffhalter was not even 18 years of age, therefore, he could not take over his father’s printing trade. He started his printing activities in the regions around the rivers Mura and Drava, in the southwestern part of the Kingdom of Hungary, more precisely on the estate of Miklós Bánffy in Dolnja Lendava. From the middle of 1573 onwards for almost a year, he was under the protection of Miklós Bánffy. In Dolnja Lendava, he printed, three Hungarian literary works by György Kultsár, the leader of the Protestant Congregation and the teacher of its school. The first book, which is considered as the first printed book on the territory of contemporary Slovenia, bears the title ˝Preparing for Death˝. It is a philosophism about life, stating that its terrestrial part is temporal and the other life eternal. The second book is about the battle of the devil and the sinner, and has a really long title. The third book, which is also the best-known of all three, is the so called ˝Postilla˝ and it contains evangelical sermons.
News of his printing office in Dolnja Lendava travelled fast and soon reached Vienna where his activity invoked the objection of the emperor. As a consequence, Rudolf Hoffhalter, who was obviously mistaken for his father who had become a Unitarian, could not remain in Dolnja Lendava. He continued his printing activities 20 kilometres away, in a settlement known as Nedelišće near Čakovec (located on the territory of contemporary Croatia) where he could continue working under the protection of György Zrínyi, a relative of the Bánffys. Due to the Protestant publications written in Croatian which came out of his printing office, he soon had to flee from there, too. From 1576 onwards until his death in 1587, he continued his printing trade in Debrecen. 

Sources:

• Hoffhalter Rudolf-emléktábla – Köztérkép (kozterkep.hu)
• Könyvnyomtatás Alsólendván (e-kompetencia.si)
• Rudolf Hoffhalter - Wikiwand
• Bánfi, Szilvia: A nyomdászat kezdetei a Dráva-Mura vidékén: Nyomda a reformáció szolgálatában. In: Lindua, 2009.(3. évf.) 6/7 sz., pages 43-47.